Ann B. Davis
Ann Bradford Davis (5 May 1926 - 1 June 2014) was an American television actress. Davis achieved prominence for her role in The Bob Cummings Show for which she twice won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She later played the part of Alice Nelson, on the 1969-74 ABC series The Brady Bunch series. Career In the 1953-1954 season, Ann appeared as a musical judge on ABC's Jukebox Jury.Jukebox Jury: Research Video, Inc.: Music Footing Licensing Agency and Vintage Television Footage Archive Davis's first television success was as Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz in the NBC sitcom The Bob Cummings Show. She auditioned for the role because her friend's boyfriend was a casting director and recommended her for the part. She won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series twice out of four nominations for this role. On 9 February 1960, Davis received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. For a period in the 1960s and 1970s, she was known for her appearances in TV commercials for the Ford Motor Company, particularly for the mid-sized Ford Fairlane models. She also appeared 23 January 1958 as a guest star on The Ford Show, starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. Davis was also featured in commercials for Minute Rice until the mid-1980s. In the 1965–1966 television season, she appeared as Miss Wilson, a Physical Education teacher at a private girls' academy in John Forsythe's NBC sitcom The John Forsythe Show. From 1969 to 1974, Davis played housekeeper Alice Nelson in The Brady Bunch television series. Since then, she has returned to take part in various Brady Bunch TV movies, including The Brady Girls Get Married (1981) and A Very Brady Christmas (1988). She also reprised her role as Alice Nelson in two short-lived Brady Bunch spin-off television series: The Brady Brides (1981) and The Bradys (1990), both of which lasted only six episodes. She also made a cameo appearance as a truck driver named "Schultzy", a reference to her days on The Bob Cummings Show, in The Brady Bunch Movie in 1995. In the early 1990s, Davis focused on theater. She performed in a production of Arsenic and Old Lace, and a world tour production of Crazy For You. Ann has never completely retired from acting; in her later years she was the celebrity spokeswoman in several Shake 'n Bake commercials, and later appeared in several disposable mop commercials featuring famous television domestics. She has also appeared in a number of Brady Bunch reunion projects, most recently TV Land's The Brady Bunch 35th Anniversary Reunion Special: Still Brady After All These Years. On 22 April 2007, The Brady Bunch was awarded the TV Land Pop Culture Award on the 5th annual TV Land Awards. Davis and other cast members accepted the award, and she received a standing ovation. Personal Life Davis was born in Schenectady, New York, the daughter of Marguerite (née Stott) and Cassius Miles Davis. She has an identical twin, Harriet, and an older brother Evans. When Davis was three, she and her family moved to Erie, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Strong Vincent High School, and is a graduate of the University of Michigan. She originally enrolled in the University of Michigan as a pre-med major, however, she changed her mind and went into drama after seeing her older brother's performance of Oklahoma! Davis graduated from the U of M in Ann Arbor in 1948 with a degree in drama and speech. In 1976, she sold her home in Los Angeles to move to Denver, Colorado, where she joined an Episcopal community led by Bishop William C. Frey.Julie K.L. Dam and Samantha Miller, "the Family Still Matters," People, 13 December 1999. Found at People magazine archives. Accessed 8 June 2011. The community later relocated to Ambridge, Pennsylvania. Death Davis died 1 June 2014 from a subdural hematoma after a fall in her bathroom. References External Links * Ann B. Davis Archive of American Television Interview Category:Actors Category:Real People Category:Bradypedia